Difficult Passage of Heart of Darkness

I was not quite sure about the passage at the beginning of Part II on pages 102-104 of Heart of Darkness. The nephew and the uncle are talking and gossiping about the events of the station. Who are the nephew and uncle? Also who are they discussing in this quote: "Who was it they were talking about now? I gathered in snatches that this was some man supposed to be in Kurtz's district and  of whom the manager did not approve." Are they talking about Marlow or some other random European man in the Congo? What is the purpose of the Conrad including this scene. Why is it important for Marlow to overhear the uncle and his nephew?

Chapter 16: Journalists Won't Give You Receipts

This chapter opens with the conclusion to the life story of Henry Morgan Stanley. After retiring from his position in Parliament, due to his lack of a sense of humor and sheer boredom  Stanley started writing his autobiography. However, he died before its completion. Despite his continuing public support of Leopold and the colonization of the Congo, it was rumored that Stanley was disapproving of the "chamber of horrors" Congo had become.

The chapter refocuses its attention on the latest malevolent actions of King Leopold. In a response to the attacks of his actions and policies in the Congo, Leopold established the Press Bureau, an government organization that essentially acted as the royal propaganda machine. The started writing and "encouraging""  the publication of reports that raved about the successes of Leopold's humanitarian efforts in the Congo. In addition, the Press Bureau started fabricating stories about the abuses committed by other major colonial powers, namely England in South Africa and India.

Despite Leopold's and the Press Bureau's best efforts, Europe was turning against the king and his actions in Congo. Encouraged by his success, Morel set his sights of his anti-Leopold campaign on the United States. Hoping to have the nation that first recognized the Congo to take action against Leopold, Morel traveled the country trying to gain support for his movement. By tailoring his message, Morel was able to recruit numerous influential government officials and prominent figures, such as Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, President Teddy Roosevelt and John Tyler Morgan. Mark Twain, so moved by Morel's message, went to campaign in Washington as well as compose a satirical anti-Leopold pamphlet, King Leopold's Soliloquy.

Frightened by Morel's growing success,  Leopold launched his own campaign in the United States. By targeting wealthy, ambitious and prominent government officials/ businessmen such as Senator Nelson W. Aldrich of Rhode Island,  Leopold was able to halt many of the legislature that would be detrimental to Leopold's control of Congo. Leopold also tried to recruit the morally shady San Francisco lawyer, Henry Kowlasky, to his cause. However, after feeling despondent and rejected when Leopold decided that he was too much of a risk (after being bribed and shown the horrors of the Congo), Kowlasky turned against the Belgian king. Selling his correspondence, figures of his bribes (200,000 francs is about 1,000,000 dollars) and documenting the effects, Kowlasky fed Hearst and the American people stories about the villainy of Leopold.

The tide had turned against Leopold and his success in the Congo. In a last ditch effort to dampen the critics,  Leopold tried to launch another mock-investigation into the actions of the Congo.  Despite selecting already biased - towards Leopold - commissioners/judges, their report confirmed all the accusations of Casement and Morel. Most notable, was the testimony of the tortured African Chief Lontulu literally counting with twigs of all the his tribe members who had been killed by Leopold's men in the Congo. Still attempting to salvage the media situation, Leopold released a fake summary of the report a day before the real one was to come out. Jumping on the opportunity, British and American newspapers published this English summary. The combination of declining popularity and media support and lack of success of his old media manipulation tricks, Leopold and the future of the Belgian controlled Congo was becoming increasingly shaky.

Quiz Questions:
1. How did Leopold use his immense influence to get positive accounts about Congo travels and business published?
2. How did Morel shape his arguments to appeal to different American constituencies?
3. What is the significance of the title?
4. In what ways did Leopold try to "court" influential Americans? How successful was he?
5. In what ways did Leopold's lobbying and press effort begin to derail? In your eyes, what was his biggest mistake?